The Lost Tales of Axl
by dandamanzx
Summary: What happened to Axl after the Maverick wars? This story takes you through Axl and Zero's adventures at the end of the elf wars. What tragedy will befall them? Rated for violence and character death.
1. Thoughts of war

Hello! Welcome to the first story I have EVER submitted. This story takes place during the elf wars in case anybody gets confused. So, without further… ah to heck with it. Here ya go!

The Lost Tales of Axl

-

War… It was all he had ever known. Right from the day he had been found to the day he now struggles through. Every day had become a struggle for him; not just because he had to fight for his life, but because of the taunting memories he had to live with. He remembered how X had sacrificed himself in the final battle of the Elf Wars, forcibly shoving the Dark Elf into his chest, then de-activating himself so that his body would act as a prison for it. He remembered how Zero had come back with such extensive damage that his neural circuits needed to be removed so that his body could undergo long-term repairs, and had to settle for a copy body until repairs were complete. He remembered how his comrades in the #7 unit of Maverick Hunters to which he was appointed leader had died all around him; their faces of horror, pain…

As the reploid known as Axl stood on the roof of Maverick Hunter HQ watching the sunset as the golden light reflected off his ebony and red-lined armor, he pondered these things. He had seen war, looked death in the face countless times, lost close friends due to senseless fighting, and for what? What had the fighting gained anyone?

Axl sat down on the edge of the roof, letting his feet dangle over, and took off his helmet to run his fingers through his dark orange hair, and let out a sigh.

_What have we been fighting for? We say that we're fighting for peace, but why haven't we been able to achieve that yet? Is peace nothing more than an empty promise?_ Axl thought to himself.

He knew it would be a harsh road to possibly achieving that empty promise, as the Elf Wars were far from over. There were those who were still under the influence of that traitor Dr. Weil. They continued to assault humans and reploids alike under Weil's orders.

_No- I shouldn't think like that. Zero always says that thoughts of regret and sorrow will only distract me. He's right. Besides I've got to remember my promise to X…_

Flashback-

_Axl was kneeling on the ground badly damaged, clutching a torn off arm with a mangled Zero laying next to him. He could only watch helplessly as X was battling fiercely with the dark elf. X managed to release a hail of small buster shots as he somersaulted over the glowing purple elf, stunning it for a short time. X took this as an opportunity to finish the battle. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and finally screamed in pain as he ripped his chest plating open. _

"_X! What are you doing!? Are you crazy!?" Axl cried out to his friend._

"_Axl…" he panted "It's the only way and you know it! I have to do this!" X yelled to Axl as oil started to drip from the corner of his mouth._

"_X, please! You can't just throw away your life like that! The world still needs you! Zero and I still need you!" said Axl as he gestured to the broken and unconscious red-armored reploid beside him._

_X merely shook his head with a sad smile. Axl knew now that there was no stopping him, and felt artificial tears welling up in his eyes. _

"_Axl," X said in a grim tone "Before I do this, please promise me something… please pick up where I left off. This world still needs a protector. Promise me that you will be that protector." "X…" Axl! Please…" X pleaded. "…I promise X…" _

_Axl didn't bother stopping his tears as he said this. Hearing this, X gave Axl one last smile and a thumbs-up before looking back to the still-stunned Dark Elf. X gritted his teeth, ignited his dash boosters, and lunged at the malevolently glowing elf with a war cry that practically shook the ground._

"_GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"_

-End flashback

"I promised you that I would protect the world X… but is it really even worth protecting anymore?" Axl thought out loud.

He sat looking out at the sunset for a while longer before he heard footsteps, and a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey, kid. What're you doing up here alone?" asked the voice of Zero.

Axl turned his head and his eyes met the crimson of Zero's armor. The red reploid had not been placed back in his original body as of yet, for it was still undergoing repairs, yet this body had most of Zero's features, being his long blond ponytail, his horn-rimmed helmet, and his Z-saber sheathed at his thigh.

"Just thinking about stuff. That's all." replied Axl in a somewhat dead-pan tone.

"Hmm… and what kind of 'stuff' would that be?" Zero asked while sitting down next to Axl also dangling his feet over the edge if the HQ roof.

"Did you get into another fight with Pallette?" Zero asked with a mischievous grin.

Axl blushed nearly as red as Zero's armor at this remark and quickly replied "Wha?? No! Nothing like that! I was just thinking of all of the wars I've seen. "

At that, Zero lost his grin and became serious, and Axl lost his blush.

"What about them?" Zero asked calmly.

Axl sighed and answered "Well… I'm just thinking that, well, we're supposed to be fighting for peace, right?" Zero nodded, and Axl continued "Well, What if that peace we're supposed to be fighting for is nothing more than just a fantasy? How can endless, mindless fighting bring about peace? Is what we're fighting for really worth it?"

Zero shifted his gaze toward the sunset and started to think. A few moments later, the crimson reploid looked back at Axl and replied.

"Axl, there's a point in every warrior's life when they begin to doubt the cause they fight for. I've certainly had my doubts. And once those doubts appear, they never really go away. We can only look back to why we started fighting in the first place, and remember what we thought was worth fighting for."

"But is this world really even worth fighting for anymore? I mean, It's pretty much destroyed already, and once we do achieve peace, you know that there's always someone who's gonna disagree with how things stand, and revolt. What's the point Zero?"

Zero narrowed his eyes and glared at Axl. "Axl, that's starting to sound like maverick talk to me. This earth is not beyond repair. Once the maverick attacks stop and we achieve peace, we'll work on re-building it. As for the lunatics who start revolts, well, that's where we come in. Get what I'm saying?"

Axl pondered Zero's words for a few minutes, then put on his usual cocky grin and said "You're right Zero. That is maverick talk. I shouldn't have these doubts, and ya know why?" Axl stood up and donned his helmet. "Because this world _is_ worth fighting for. It's the only one we've got, and we've got to keep fighting for it!"

Zero smiled and stood up next to Axl, who began twirling one of his twin pistols. "I promised X that I would protect this world, and that's what I intend to do!"

Zero opened his mouth to say something in response, but was cut off by the HQ alarm going off.

"Speak of the devil…" Axl said, still grinning. Axl and Zero nodded to each other and took off down the stairs toward the command center.

-

Well? How was It? I know it was mostly drabble, but I needed to get it out of the way, ya know? No worries; there'll be more action in later chapters. Dan the man, signing off!


	2. City Skirmish

Alright guys, here's chapter 2. There's gonna be plenty of action in this chapter to make up for a chapter of character development. Enjoy!

The Lost Tales of Axl

-

The two hunters had been running the halls of Maverick Hunter HQ at the sound of the 'maverick alert' alarm, and finally skidded to a halt as they reached the command center. They opened the door to find the three navigators, Alia, Layer, and Pallette typing away at their workstations, and Commander Signas was giving out orders to the other hunters that were already mobilized. Zero and Axl walked up to Alia's workstation first.

"What's the situation, Alia?" Zero asked. He had to raise his voice a bit to carry over the alarm.

"There's been an attack on a residential area in Arcadia section 239 west! We've mobilized several other units, but they're having a lot of problems out there. The # 12 unit is already pinned down from enemy fire, and we've lost contact with all members of the #4 unit. We're losing ground on all sides!" Alia reported.

"Got it." said Axl as he moved over to Pallette's console. "What's the area layout looking like?" he asked.

"Mostly flat, streets, some damaged buildings, you know." said the green-clad navigator. "Nothing you guys can't handle." She added with a smile.

Meanwhile, Zero had gone to layer's console. "What kind of baddies are we dealing with, Layer?" he asked the purple-haired navigator.

"Baddies? sigh. Nothing too bad. Weil's standard attack drones, but enough of them to put our boys in trouble. There's an odd signal amidst them, but that's probably just the leader of the attack force." Zero nodded and added "Sounds easy enough."

"Zero, Axl, if you're ready, then you're to be deployed immediately!" called Signas from the command console.

"Roger!" the two combat reploids acknowledged in unison. They then stepped onto the transporter pad to await transfer. Alia typed a command onto her console, and the two hunters were then surrounded by an intense light. When the light died down, they were in what looked like a suburbial city zone, only it looked like it had been hit by a bomb. It didn't faze the hunters though. They had seen this sort of thing before.

"Alia said that unit 12 was pinned down in an alley near here. Let's move!" Zero said to Axl. "Right." Axl replied while whipping out his twin pistols. They ran off to the coordinates Alia transmitted them, and sure enough, there were a group of a dozen or so purple drones firing into an alleyway. Axl charged, 

then leapt over the group of drones, then ignited his hover jets to keep him in mid-air while firing his pistols at the craniums of the drones, most shots piercing through. Zero joined in by unsheathing his saber, and plowing through several drones, slashing and skewering alike. Within seconds, the drones were mere scrap piles. Zero stepped away from the junked drones and saw the leader of the 12th unit stepping out from the alley.

"You ok, Rex?" Zero asked the unit's leader. Rex smiled and replied "Yeah. Thanks to you two. I owe ya one Z."

Zero turned to Axl who was already calling HQ for an on-site extraction. The 12th unit then disappeared in a flash of light as they were teleported back to base. A split second later, Layer piped up from both of their comm. systems.

"Zero, Axl, can you hear me?" she asked. "Loud and clear Layer. What's up?" said Axl. "A large group of heavy drones is headed in your direction from both sides! This was a trap!"

"WHAT!?" yelled Zero. "How close!?" "About 3 kilometers and closing!" replied Pallette.

"Any possible escape routes?" asked Axl. "None that I can detect. Sorry Axl…" "Don't worry 'bout it Pallette. We've been through worse!" Axl then closed the comm. and said to Zero "This should be fun!"

"Just stay focused, kid!" Zero said through gritted teeth as he pulled out his hand gun and inserted the Z-saber hilt as the magazine. Normally zero would have his Z-buster on his arm, but this was not his original body, so he had to improvise. He found his new gun worked quite well.

Axl and Zero took ready stances as two groups of about thirty thick-armored droids sporting heavy cannons as well as a few with missile launchers took either side of the street they were on, blocking the two hunters off from any escape.

Zero charged into one group of the maverick drones, and Axl the other, both of them guns blazing. By the time they reached the mavericks, both had taken out at least five or six per group. As Zero got in close range, He pulled the saber out on the hand-gun and activating the bright green triangular blade right through the torso of a drone. He then spun around, lobbing off two heads, and cutting through three chests. After doing this, he grabbed a droid by the head, crushing it first, and then throwing it into three more drones. They exploded on contact. _Cheap pieces of junk_. Zero thought as he cut down seven more drones in three slashes. He then wheeled about and swung his saber so fast it created an energy wave that cut through three more drones. He finished off the remainder of the drones by slamming his fist into the ground blasting energy waves out on the impact, destroying the Weil-bots. He saw that Axl had done equally as well destroying his group of drones, and walked over to him. He took care to stamp on the head of a struggling drone, crushing the wretched thing beneath his heel.

"Too easy, Huh?" Axl said proudly while sporting his trademark grin.

"Yeah… It was too easy-huh!?" Zero said while spotting a group of twenty flying drones soaring towards them.

"MOVE!!" yelled Zero as he narrowly avoided an incoming missile.

Axl complied by jumping up and activating the built-in jets in his boots, and extending the white stabilizers on his back. He flew up to meet them and in seconds was shooting them down. Zero took the opportunity to place his saber hilt back into his hand-gun and fire a charged shot, destroying four of them at once. In about 35 seconds flat, they were all defeated.

"What was that all about?" Axl said as he descended back to the ground next to Zero.

"I don't know… It seems that Weil is going out of his way to keep us held up here. The question is why though?" Zero said to Axl while putting away his gun and saber.

"You think this may be just a distraction for a bigger attack?" Axl suggested.

Zero thought about this for a moment, and then his eyes went wide with the horror of what he had realized.

"Hunter Base! This is Zero! Please respond!" "BZZZZZZTTTTTT……." Came the sound of static from the other line of Zero's comm. "HUNTER BASE!! ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!!"

Axl's eyes went wide with horror as he realized what was happening.

"No… Pallette… ZERO! THEY'VE ATTACKED THE BASE!! We've fallen right into their trap!" Axl yelled,

"Axl, this is no time to panic!" Zero said as he gripped Axl's shoulder. "I can't get through to the base, so we can't transfer back. We need to think on something and fast!" Zero said as he turned his head toward the pillar of smoke that was coming from the direction of the hunter base.

-

My first action scene… sniff I'm so proud! sob Anyway, Click that review button and give me feedback! Positive, negative, give it to me! NO FLAMES THOUGH!!


	3. Copy Shot and the Mantis

Hey, readers! Dan the man is back! So… I intend to make this chapter longer than the other two due to a boss battle sequence. Still lookin' for reviews, and millions of thanks to those who have already added this story to their favorites list! JOO GUYS IZ DA BEZT!!1!!11one!!1OOONNNEEE11!! now without further adieu, here's chapter 3!

The Lost Tales of Axl

-

_Oh, geez, oh geez! What am I gonna do!? I've gotta find some way to get back to base! _Axl thought frantically as he paced the battered streets of the freshly attacked residential area.

_Okay, calm down Axl. You can do this! I could try to go back on my jets, but I would burn out long before I got very far… there have to be some working cars around here! No, no… even by car It's still an hour away! _

"AARGH!! Think, Axl, THINK!!" Axl yelled at himself while pounding his fist into the side of his protected cranium, hoping to spawn an idea, and hopefully not a concussion.

Zero, who had been standing off to the side to stay away from Axl's panicking, decided he couldn't take it anymore. He walked up to Axl, who didn't seem to notice anything in his state of panic, and clobbered him.

Axl fell to the ground and yelled "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

"Would you shut up and calm down?" Zero retorted calmly. "You're not making this any easier. Panicking will only prevent you from thinking straight. Not to mention it annoys the hell outta me."

Axl took in a deep breath, then let it out and said "You're right Zero, as usual. Sorry I- hey! Check this out!" Axl interrupted his apology to run over to a barely-alive scrapped air-combat drone that Axl had shot through the chest five minutes earlier.

"What about it? How's a junker like this gonna do for us?" Zero asked in confusion.

At that, Axl widely grinned, twirled his pistol at his finger, and said "Ya never learn, do ya Z?"

Axl pointed his gun at the drone, and fired a shot at it, which left the shattered drone glowing white for a moment, then exploded at their feet coating the ground with oil and shrapnel.

"Well that was pointless! What did you do that for!?" ranted Zero.

However Axl paid no heed to the crimson reploid's ranting because he was searching the ground where the reploid had exploded and internally hoped he was right about the idea he had. He grinned in triumph as he found what he had been looking for; a small glowing white container.

"Hah! Read 'em and weep!" he said proudly as he showed the container in his palm to Zero.

"Is that-"Zero stopped in shock at what Axl was holding.

"Yep! A DNA core!"Axl said while absorbing the core into his body. Once he was done downloading the data, he tossed aside the empty container.

"These air-drones are built to be fast, and they can carry a lot of weight too. I should be able to get us back to the hunter base in just a few minutes now!" Axl said cheerfully.

Zero couldn't help beaming at the young reploid. To think that of all things, the Copy Shot would get them out of this jam. "Axl, I hate myself for saying this, but you are some sort of genius. Now, what are we waiting for?"

Axl nodded and stepped back. Zero watched as Axl's blue head and chest gems glow brightly, but then noticed something in the sky barreling toward them at high speed out of the corner of his eye.

"A TRA-"

"GET DOWN!!" Zero yelled as he tackled Axl to the ground narrowly avoiding a large scythe as it slammed into the ground where they once stood.

"What the!?" Axl questioned as he hand-sprung to his feet.

"I don't know…" Zero said kneeling beside him. "Who are you!? Come out and show yourself, coward!!" Zero yelled into the air.

Suddenly, as if a blur, a large green mantis jumped down from a building and landed barely a foot away from Zero and Axl, and swung a large scythe at the two of them. Zero somersaulted over the swipe, while Axl dove and rolled under it, between the mantis's legs, and did a hand spring back to his feet, landing with pistols drawn and aimed. Zero landed fifteen feet back from where he had initially jumped up, and had his saber drawn.

"So who're you supposed to be, ugly?" Axl snapped at the mantis-reploid.

"Ugly?! Chikachikachika!! I'll show you who's ugly once I've chopped you to bits!" the mantis retorted.

"He asked your name, maverick! Now spill it! Who are you!?" Zero yelled at the maverick mantis.

"Chikachika! The name's Deathtanz Mantisk! I'm one of Weil's numbers! I have orders to terminate you, but thanks to your bratty friend's remark, I'll drag it out and make you suffer first! Chikachikachikachika!!" said the now-identified Mantisk as he picked up his other scythe.

Zero nodded at Axl. Axl understood what to do. He aimed his pistols at Mantisk's bladed feet and shot at it. The blast hit its mark and the mantis recoiled in pain. This caught Mantisk off guard, and he wasn't prepared for what happened next. Axl continued to shoot at the maverick's feet as it dodged the shots narrowly. Axl began to laugh at this.

"Hey, Zero! This is pretty fun! I've never seen a giant bug dance before!" Axl said between laughs.

Mantisk growled in rage at this (it came out as a bunch of 'chikas') but could do little about it. He barely noticed Zero appear behind him ready to stab. He blocked the stab with his scythe and managed to block Axl's incoming bullets with his other. He launched said scythe at Axl, catching him in the gut and pinning him against a building.

Axl struggled but couldn't seem to get free. He then needed to re-direct his attention back to the red reploid who was attacking him with an impossibly fast flurry of slashes. He managed to block his attacks, but was indeed impressed at how well this crimson demon could wield a blade. The saber looked like flashes of green in front of his scythe. He managed to prevent himself from losing further ground by digging a clawed foot into the pavement. His plan worked, and he managed to align his scythe so that on zero's next slash, the blade nicked his upper-arm, drawing wires and oil.

Zero flinched in pain, allowing Mantisk to deliver a kick to the abdomen sending the smaller reploid flying, as well as leaving a cut on his side. Zero struggled to his feet, only to get pinned down when Mantisk tackled him. Zero's saber clattered to the side, just out of reach.

"Here comes the pain!" said Mantisk sinisterly, while raising his scythe above his head.

Zero struggled against the blunt, now-bladeless arm that had him pinned down, but came to no avail. But then he noticed a fallen Weil drone next to him, its blaster rifle limp in its hand. Without a second thought, Zero ripped the rifle out of the fallen drone's hand, and fired three shots into Mantisk's mandibled face.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!! MY FACE!! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!!" screamed Mantisk as he recoiled and was sent staggering back off of Zero, who picked up and activated his fallen Z-saber.

_Is this guy for real!?_ Zero thought as he watched the Mantis lament over his now smoldering face, slightly disturbed.

Zero's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a gunshot, another scream from Mantisk as a smoking crater appeared in his mechanical thorax, and the sight of Axl landing in front of him.

"Is this guy for real?" Axl unintentionally repeated Zero's thoughts.

"My thoughts exactly. What kept you?" Zero responded.

"Hey! You can only do so much when you're jammed between a wall and a gigantic blade!" Axl said defensively.

ChikachikaaaAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!! I've had enough of you!! YAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Mantisk yelled through a damaged vocabulator as he lunged at the two hunters.

Zero jumped to the side, while Axl leapt and hovered over the charging mantis, and unloaded several dozen rounds into its back. Mantisk growled in pain and doubled over, barely able to stand, and then there was a flash of green across his body as Zero appeared behind him, apparently having followed through a slash. Mantisk only choked in shock as the upper half of his body was severed from the lower.

"I…d-don't believe this! Argh! Beaten by a prototype and a ch-cheap copy! I'm so disgraced… Hrk! Lord Weil!! F-forgive meeeee! CHIKACHIHAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGHHHHH!!" he screamed his last words as his fusion reactor overloaded and the mantis exploded.

Zero was clutching the cut on his side and panting as oil seeped between his fingers, as reploids don't have blood.

"You okay Zero?" Axl asked his friend. He was covered in various scratches as well, but not as bad as Zero.

"Yeah… nothing Lifesaver can't patch up." Zero said with a reassuring smile.

"Wouldn't say that just yet Z. We still gotta make sure he's there when we get back." Axl said as his gems started to glow again.

"A-TRANS!" cried Axl as he was enveloped in a bright light. The light died down, and where Axl was standing was now a Weil air-drone.

"Come on! There's no time to lose!" It said in Axl's voice which seemed to echo a bit.

The drone Axl ignited his jets, grabbed Zero's arm, and took off toward Hunter Base At high speed.

The pillar of smoke coming from the direction of the HQ had not died down at all; if anything it had gotten worse.

_I just hope we're not too late!_

_-_

My first boss fight. If you're wondering why Deathtanz Mantisk showed up, he DID show up in the elf wars and was revived in zero 3. this just explains how he died the first time. I hated fighting him so much in zero 3 that it felt good having Axl make him dance XD. Anyway, R&R no flames.REVIEW!! DO SO NOOOWWWW!!


	4. War in the skies

Sorry 'bout the wait, folks. I've been working on another story. This chapter's going to be something a bit off from standard Megaman-style combat. I'll say no more. Read to find out! I'd like to get some reviews, so please humor me!

The Lost Tales of Axl

-

Zero continued to look on at the pillar of smoke that was still rising from the direction of hunter base worriedly. He could only hear the roar of the jets on Axl's copied aero-drone form, so didn't know if he heard explosions or not.

As they approached within a kilometer or so of the Hunter Base, an explosion beside them nearly blasted Axl and Zero who was holding on for dear life at this point.

"What the bloody HELL was that!?" drone-Axl shouted.

"I don't- DOWN! GO DOWN!!"

They barely managed to descend enough in time to avoid a collision with a Hunter attack fighter soaring at high speed. They heard two more roars of engines as two demonic-looking maverick fighters flew overhead in hot pursuit of the hunter fighter. The hunter fighter pulled off to the right, but the pursuers matched the maneuver, and fired a hail of heavy plasma bolts at the fighter, many of which hit their mark turning the fighter into a fireball which slammed into the nearest building with a large explosion.

Zero watched this until another explosion beside them almost knocked them out of the sky. Zero finally realized what these mid-air blasts were.

"Anti- air flak! We need to get outta the sky!"

"Gotcha!" drone-Axl said ad he corrected his course, and accelerated in a bee-line for HQ.

After dodging many more bursts of flak, fighters, and plasma bolts around them, they landed safely in the hanger of HQ, and ran over to their mechanic, Douglas who was giving the command for another fighter to take off. Zero and Axl reached Douglas as the fighter shot out of the hanger. Douglas turned and greeted Zero.

"Zero! Am I glad to see you! Err… Who's the drone?"

"Huh? Oops!" Said Axl as he changed back to his ebony-armored self.

"Whew! It's just Axl."

"No time to chat, Douglas! What's the status on the base?" Zero demanded.

"Any troops broken in yet?" added Axl.

"Not yet, but we've got everyone in the safe-rooms just in case. As for the base, exterior force-fields are holding steady, and most of our GTA turrets are still working. As for our boys in the air, they've managed to repel any troop landers, but they're starting to have troubles with those fighter-drones."

"Alright. Good. What's the status of the _Demon_?" said Zero referring to his own customized fighter (painted red of course).

"And the _Sky Fox_?" said Axl referring to his personalized fighter (all black with red stripes).

"The _Red Demon_ and the _Sky Fox_ are ready for take-off whenever you are."

"Roger!" They both said and ran off to their fighters.

Both of the elite hunters jumped into their respective cockpits. Zero in the _Red Demon_ and Axl in his _Sky Fox. _Axl strapped himself in, ignited the thrusters on the _Fox_, and closed his canopy.

Standard hunter fighters were pretty simple in design: A sharp fuselage that was tapered in the front, wings that came out the rear-sides with plasma cannons on the ends, powerful twin thrusters in the rear, and a sleek round canopy that only slightly protruded from the fuselage (think star fox's jet). All in all, fast and lethal.

Axl's fighter was different aside from being painted black and red in contrast to the standard gray, Axl's fighter had more powerful thrusters that came equipped with thrust vectoring, enhanced cannons that allotted faster fire before cannon overheat, but had to reduce the power of the blasts; Just Axl's style. On the other hand, Zero's fighter has powered up cannons that overheated faster, and engines that had a lower top speed. However, the demon's stabilizers gave it increased acrobatic potential to fit Zero's style of combat.

"Tower, this is Hellboy 1, requesting clearance for launch." said Axl into his ship's comm. unit.

"Hellboy 1, you are clear for take-off." The tower responded to his code-name. All pilots were assigned one.

"Roger that!" said Axl.

Axl looked out the right of his canopy to see the _Red Demon_ shoot out of the hanger.

"Heh, no way you're leaving me in the dust!" Axl said as he gripped the throttle.

All systems showed green. Weapons online, shields up, stabilizers operational. Axl grinned to himself, and rammed the throttle forward. Axl felt his craft lurch as the walls of the hanger flew by in nanoseconds, and he was out in the aerial battlefield outside Hunter Base. Axl pulled up and flew above the battle briefly to check out the situation, and then soared back down, taking care to come up behind a purple insect-looking drone fighter. Axl pulled the trigger letting lose dozens of red plasma bolts into the hull of the drone and it exploded in mid-air.

"WHOO!! Hellboy 1, splash one!" Axl yelled in triumph at his first kill of the day.

"Saber in the Sky to Hellboy 1, do you read?" said Zero's voice through the comm.

"Loud and clear, Saber. What's up?" Axl replied.

"Stop bragging and get shooting!! That's what!" Zero ranted.

"You're just jealous, Z! I can tell!" Axl teased as he pulled behind two more fighters and stitched plasma across their hulls until one exploded, and one went down in an inferno.

"JEALUOS!?" Why would I be jealous of YOU!?" Zero yelled. Axl could hear cannon fire in the background.

"You mean other than my top pilot ranking, and the fact that you've never beaten me in a dogfight?" Axl continued to tease.

What came next from Zero through the comm. was a loud and obnoxious string of garbled cursing so bad that Axl shut off his comm. and proceeded to make a sharp left bank to avoid several bursts of flak.

Axl immediately saw a large maverick lander approaching the hanger bay of the base. Axl pulled the _Fox_ behind it, and began firing at their engines. After a few seconds, one of the engines exploded, throwing the hulking craft drastically off course. Axl continued to fire, eventually causing the thing to explode in mid-air causing ground drones to fall out while burning up. Axl cheered inwardly until his ship lurched and shook for a second, and a warning came up on his console saying that the right engine had been hit, but shields were still holding.

Axl swore, pulled back on the stick, and gunned the thrusters to try to break away from his attackers, but to no success. Green plasma bolts flew past his ship. Axl briefly looked back to see himself being pursued by two drone-fighters. He made another attempt to lose them by executing a snap-roll to the left, then shooting downward. He pulled up at the last second and continued to fly low. He checked to see if he had lost them. Unfortunately they both were still hot on his trail. Then another tremor in his ship, and an indicated hit above the right engine with minimal damage.

Axl thought fast and came up with an idea. He swerved his ship towards the city, and began to fly between the buildings. He came down a street with a large building directly at the end. He used the Fox's thrust vectoring to tilt the aircraft upward while on the same course. The insect- like drones behind him would not be prepared for this. He righted the thrusters, causing him to shoot straight upwards, a mere few feet from the building. One of the fighters managed to pull up in time, but the other didn't. It plowed into the building after pulling up, scraped up it for a few seconds, and then became a ball of fire.

Axl began flying back toward the main battle, and then came up with another idea. He pulled back on the throttle and the craft lurched to a near-stop, and the drone fighter barrel-rolled around it to avoid a collision. Axl gunned the throttle bringing him to match the speed of the drone that was now in front of him, locked on, and streaked plasma into its engines. The engines went up in flame causing the fuel tank to explode, incinerating the drone and sending shrapnel into the streets below.

Axl breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as his fighter shook violently again. Axl grunted against g-forces as he pulled his fighter in a steep climb, and looked back to find three more drones on his six. Axl knew that even he couldn't handle this alone.

"Saber, this is Hellboy!" he called to Zero over his comm.

"What now!?" demanded Zero.

"I got three bandits on my six! Help me out?"

"May as well. You're no use to me dead." Zero said teasingly.

"Why you- AAGH!!" Axl cried as his ship shook extremely violently.

A red light blinked on his console, and a display indicated that his left stabilizer had been hit badly, and his shields were down. He looked out to his left and saw that a chunk had been blown off his wing. His console beeped and told him that his left cannon was disabled. Then, a plasma bolt whizzed by inches from the hull, snapping Axl back to reality. He pulled back on the stick, turning him upside down, and then righted the fighter. A few more bolts flew by, then Axl heard a BOOM along with a shake of his ship. An alarm and a display indicated that his outer left stabilizer and cannon had been blown clean off. He looked back and saw a stump of a stabilizer with smoke trailing. He knew he couldn't maneuver anymore, and could barely steer.

Axl closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable explosion that he knew would envelop him and his ship. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Axl heard three explosions behind him, but the flames never came. He peeked open one eye to find himself still in the _Fox_'s cockpit. He looked to his right to see the _Red Demon_ flying beside him, and could make out Zero in its cockpit giving him a thumbs-up.

"You're all clear, kid! Now head home for repairs!" Zero said to Axl over the comm. link.

"Thanks Zero, I owe ya one." Axl replied.

"Actually, that's about three. But, whatever. We'll save that for later."

"Yeah, yeah." Axl said as he broke off and flew straight into the hanger.

About fifteen minutes later, Zero and the rest of the remaining hunter fighters had shot down the rest of the drones, and they were heading home. Axl had already landed his fighter and was waiting for the rest to return. Sure enough, the remaining few dozen fighters re-entered the hanger and touched down. Zero took care to land right next to Axl. He opened up his canopy, and cheered as he jumped out.

"WHOO! Yes! We got 'em all!"Zero cheered.

"Yeah, goody for you. I was one kill away from making ace, Zero. One kill!" Axl complained.

"What are you talking about? You're an ace like, nine times over!"Zero pointed out.

"I know, but I try to earn ace every time I go out there. That's how I like to challenge myself." Axl explained.

"Don't worry 'bout it kid. You got shot down, it couldn't help it."

"How many did you get?"

"Fourteen, but that's beside the point. C'mon, we need to report to Commander Signas."

Axl nodded as they began to walk toward the command center.

-

And that's chapter 4. I'm kind of disappointed that this story hasn't gotten reviews yet. My other one got reviews. Anyway, I'm gonna postpone working on this story to work on my other one. Maybe I'll get motivated to do chapter five after I get some reviews, so click that button and critique my work!!


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